Pirates of the Caribbean Show, Growing Affections
by Falarios
Summary: It begins in the summer...Why don't we do a Pirates show theme? As Erica works on the new show with a certain someone, she finds that band is one of the greatest things out there. Includes Pirates refrences, traditional band humor, and romance.
1. Opening Set everybody!

NEW INFO: Hey guys, just to let you know, I WILL be updating soon. Things have just been super-hectic around here. ;) By the way, thank you sooo much for your comments! They've really helped me keep going! :)  
  
Hey Band Geeks! Now what could be more fun for you Pirates fans? Well, doing a PotC show of course! Band humor, romance, and some good old fashioned band people kidding around! Pirates (c) to Disney Note: These characters are inspired by people in my band, though situations and names have been altered, for the most part they are like they're real- life counter-parts. Read, enjoy, review! ^ . ^  
  
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As I walked into the band room, I being Erica Jasper, I imediately headed to the small room known as the director's office. For a second, I though that no one else was here, but when I swung through the doorway I found myself face-to-face with several of my favorite band members. This was the normal crowd around here, seeing as it was during the summer. Mr. Jamous was sitting in his computer chair, our band co-captain Josh Ferra was on the rickety old stoll that would throw you off in a moments notice, and everyone else was standing of leaning against the music shelves. The others included Mark Muuric, a tenor sax, James Gerrald, a bass drummer, Holly Smothers, a clarinet like myself, and a somebody named Jack Parry, a mellophone of admirable skill.  
"Hey everybody! What are we going through today?" I asked as I took position leaning against the doorframe.  
What I was referring to was the large and tedious task that we were all here volunteering for. Josh Ferra was working on his Eagle Scout badge, and as his community service task, we had to re-organize, re-shelf, and basically go through the entire music library. After working on it for a month, we were starting to make some actual progress.  
"Well,"Mr.Jamous spoke up,"We've gone throw almost all of the concert and marching music, so we'll finish that up today and start on our Jazz Band stuff." He nodded with a half-proud, half-sad, and very tired look.  
"Well, at least we only have the Jazz Band." I said hopefully.  
Mr. Jamous frowned a little and pointed to the two large cabinets labeled "Jazz Band Music". It was almost as buig as the concert music collection.  
"Oh." I said, looking up at their tall expanse. A couple of those around me shrugged, then Mark abrubtly changed the subject to,"So what's the theme for this year?" There were a couple of murmered "Yeah"s and "C'mon"s, but Mr.Jamous shook his head.  
"We're just really undecided, but we still have a couple of months before we have to have drill so..." he let it trail off.  
"C'mon, let's do...oh I don't know...Pirates of the Caribbean!" I piped up.  
Murmured "Ooo"s and "Ahhhh"s filled the tiny space. A few nodded and looked to Mr.Jamous expectantly.  
"Eeeeeeehh..."He looked doubtful.  
"Oh c'mon, Mr.Jamous! Have you heard that score?" I asked, looking put down.  
"It's beautiful and it makes a good marching beat."Jack remarked. Jack had marched Drum Corps last summer and his opinion on something marching related was respected.  
I looked up and smiled at Jack as if I was saying,"Yes! Thanks!" He smiled at me out of the corner of his eye, then winked at me and gazed back at Mr. Jamous, hoping to prove his point.  
Mr.Jamous looked up at Jack and held his gaze for a minute, thinking.  
"I don't know, it's not very traditional to do a popular movie." He frowned and looked out the open office door to the empty chairs and percussion equipment.  
"Ahem!"Josh cleared his throat,"Star Wars, Grease, Titanic, Batman, Lion King..."He counted off on his fingers at each one, his deep voice resonating well in the cramped environment.  
Mr.Jamous waved his hand at him to cut him off and blankly said,"Point noted." Then thought for a second and smiled remembering those shows he had seen with those themes.  
"C'mon," Holly spoke up,"We can get our hands on some music, put it to drill and wa-la! New show!" She waved her hands to emphasize.  
"Yeah! And Jack can be our Jack Sparrow!"James exclaimed.  
Jack looked startled at hearing his name being called and the idea of him being a crazy visual.  
"Oh I don't know,"Mark answered, Sparrow's more lanky, Jack is built.  
Jack's entire body posture relaxed.  
"So?"James persisted.  
It was very true that Jack was handsome, built, and had perfect posture. With his dark brown hair, bright eyes, and quiet manner, he was quite the catch in my view. He played Mellophone with beautiful clarity and dynamics, and was always as sweet and mannered as any girl could want.  
"But what music?" Mr.Jamous asked,"It's a new movie, I don't think anything been written for it for marchers."  
"Well, let's look then." I said.  
"I'll look,"Mr.Jamous said,"You guys start with those cabinets, right there." He pointed and reluctantly we scuttled over to them. Josh got up on the rickety stool very slowy and reached up to the topmost filing cabinet and opened it.  
"They're a commin' down!" He said as he grabbed bundles of heavy folders and handed them down to awaiting band members.  
  
I sat with Mark and Jack at the "sorting tables". Well, it wasn't really sat next to as much as it was sat in sight of, because sorting each individual piece of music into the appropriate order for filing (ie Flutes, Piccolo, Clarinet, Eb Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Oboe, etc...) took up half of each table. Mark was sitting diagonal to me at the same table, while Jack sat next to me, though working at the table behind me.  
I sighed as I put,"Seasame Street," into the correct order.  
"There's no second trumpet part in this." I said dully.  
Jack leaned over to see,"Is there supposed to be one?"  
"There's supposed to be four." I said slightly sarcasticly as I turned and smiled.  
He frowned a little and asked,"And you looked through every paper?"  
"Yeeeeeaaap," I nodded once, staring again at the part. By this time, the lines and letters were beggining to blur together.  
"Oh well, poor trumpets." Jack grinned mischieviously, and went back to his piece.  
"Ahhh well..." I sighed again.  
"Blast..."Mark frowned.  
"What?" I asked and loked up. He was going franticly through his papers. "No part? No conductor's score?" I asked.  
"No Tenor Sax!" He exclaimed. "There should be a Tenor in everything!"  
"Ahhh,"I said understandingly.  
We were then interupted from our riveting experiance by Mr.Jamous coming out and grabbing a chair at our table next to me. He sighed and said...  
"No Pirates music out there."  
"Awww. None?"  
"Zip."  
"Well, the main themes and the notes are easy enough,"I said after a moment,"We can make our own scores! We have a few talented composers." I turned and gave a meaningful look at Jack.  
He looked at me back and mouthed,"I'm not that good!! I couldn't possibly - "  
"Jack?" Mr.Jamous asked,"You have experiance with writing music?"  
Jack smiled a little un-emthusiastic and un-comfortable,"Yes sir, a little."  
"Well, what do you think? Are the rythyms easy?" Mr.Jamous leaned forward and clasped his hands together, leaning on his knees. Looking exactly like a police interrogator.  
"Well, sure, the rythyms are, but I can't -" Jack smiled very uncomfortably.  
Mr.Jamous cut him off,"Gooood! That's just great."  
"But sir!" Jack looked at him pleadingly.  
"Yes? What? What's the problem?"  
"I can't do it alone!" He said, unfortunately he had unknowingly made it clear that he was capable of the task if he had help.  
"Well of course not," Mr.Jamous said plainly. "Who else do you know of that has this kind of talent?"  
Jack, snickered inside as he raised his hand up to propose me. "Erica has great ideas on rythyms and different parts!"  
As soon as I saw his hand out of the corner of my eye, I turned and stared back at him. "I do not!" I whispered.  
"Do too!" He whispered back.  
"Do not!" I said, wanting to have the last word.  
"Well, even if you don't, you do now!" He grinned sardonicly.  
Mr.Jamous clapped his hands together once and rose from his seat,"Well then it's settled! You get me a score and I'll get you the drill!" He began to walk back to his office,"Oh and I'll get Amy Johnson to help you two out also, she can do the percussion part."  
As soon as his door was shut I whipped around,"What the crap! I'm not good enough to compo- " But Jack cut me off with a raise of his finger,"If I have to do it, you have to too."  
I frowned as I admitted to myself that I owed it to him since I had 'fed him to the wolves' so to speak. Besides, I cheered myself a little inside, I would be working almost totally alone with the boy for a lot of quality time. And that might perhaps open the doors to brand new opportunities, I smiled.  
".....So.....When do you want to start working?" I asked.  
"Well, I don;t think we'll be comming here anymore," He said, then leaned down and whispered,"Not that it's that much fun....unless you're here."  
I smiled at the compliment as we both leaned up, then I began to feel as if I might blush as I realized the full intentions of that comment.  
I wondered though, if it would be possible, Jack and I. I had never thought of myself as a truly beautiful girl, just...average. I was 5',4" with short brown hair, brown eyes, and light skin. I never really wore anything flirtatious of showy, typically jeans and a nice shirt when I wasn't in dress code. My features weren't anything spectacular to look at, but...as I thought of these things, I asked myself. "Do I really know what guys like? Maybe he could like me....maybe."  
After a few minutes, we agreed to meet at my house that Saturday since I had the Pirates CD and Pirates matierial on my computer. As I sat there, finishing my task before lunch break. Little butterflies started flitting around in my stomach. I couldn't wait until Saturday.  
  
~^*v~v*^~  
  
I really hope you guys review! And I really hope that you enjoy it! 


	2. Basics

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Jack sighed and massaged his temples at my kitchen table. We'd listened to every pirates soundtrack, sound clip, and music video we could, but we still hadn't gotten any farther than brainstorming ideas. I gently pulled our 'idea paper' out from under his sight to take a look at it again. After a moment, I spoke up.  
"Well, we're stuck. So what, let's try and think up something different."  
We'd been trying to write a couple of measures, just to arrange something for band type groups but we were drawing a blank.  
"Like....?" Jack asked, yawning.  
"Like, what do we want our opener to sound like? And the second song, and the third. What about the closure? What themes do we want to do with each song?" I asked.  
"Hmmmm, that I think I can answer." He shook his head to wake himself up. "What about something like 'One Last Shot' for our opener? It can start out quietly, then build." he looked over at me.  
".....Yeah yeah, that could work, we could do that. What about the second one?" I replied.  
"'He's a Pirate'"He said comically,"It's exciting."  
"Well, yes, but we want to save something for last, don't we?" I remarked  
"We will be, there's plenty in that score to make a show out of. We can also use 'Will and Elizabeth'."  
"Plenty to make a show out of? Sad to say it, but most of the themes are centered around two main lines of music. If we're going to make a show out of this, we'll probably have to write some for ourselves." I said pointedly,"It can't be that hard, can it? I mean, most of the songs are in the same general key. You know, we could do a special theme for....oh...say...the pirates?" I grasped for even a simple concept.  
Jack looked at me imediately and rather sarcasticly,"Pray tell...which ones?" he asked.  
"No no no, forget that,"I said hurridly,"Wait! What about a theme for...Tortuga! That'd be interesting at least."  
Jack paused and looked off at the wall, then looked back at me and gave a little chuckle,"Do we DARE write a theme for Tortuga?"  
I raised my finger to object and push my idea farther, but he had a point, the idea could turn...controversal.  
"I know! We could get through with all of our normally composed music with all of the traditional themes, and then do a special with our 'Jack Sparrow' fellow."  
Jack's face was clearly a very large question mark.  
"What I mean is, we can get several people to play out a scene. Oh, what about the hanging scene? There, the snares would be featured, as well as our 'actors', then we could wrap up the show with a strong closure, just like the movie!" I waved my hands around, imitating Jack as I explained my idea.  
Jack paused, looking at me. Then, he pointed at me and said,"...That's the beginings of a great show!" He grinned.  
"Great!" I grinned widely,"Let's get to work!"  
  
~^*v~v*^~  
  
By 7:00 that night, we had come up with a full sheet and a half of music, and to say we were proud would be an understatement. But sadly, as our day of work came to an end, Jack had to leave. Though I was happy enough knowing I would be seeing him again.  
"Well, I think I've got everything." Jack said as he looked closely around through the shambled mess of a table.  
I nodded,"Yeah, you would think you had spent the night with the mess we made." I smiled while looking at the mess, and then found that my gaze had gradually wandered to Jack's face. He looked up at me as if expecting me to say something.  
"Sure you won't have dinner with us?" I asked.  
"Yes, you've been a great guest." My mother came up from behind me, wiping her hands on a dish towel,"You're welcome back anytime."  
Jack did a small bow with his head,"Thank-you ma'am, that's very good considering Erica and I have a lot of work to do. And no, I'm quite sure there's food at my house suitable enough."  
"It's those Lean Cuisenes." I whispered to my mother.  
"I heard that!" Jack raised his voice jokeingly.  
"Please don't wake the baby, Jack!" My mother whispered, smiling.  
"Oh! Sorry!" Jack covered his mouth with his hand and mumbled,"I'll eee mor careful."  
  
"It's alright, Jack. It's not like you're very loud very often." I said and took a step forward. "Now, when are we gonna be working on this next?" I asked.  
"Ermmmm..."Jack looked up in thought."....I...don't know. I think I'm free next Wendsday." He looked down again at me.  
"Nope," I shook my head,"Church night."  
"Oh," he seemed mildly surprised."Then what about Thursday?"  
"That'll be very well!" I said in my British accent."Shall I escourt you to your car?"  
"Indeed!" He agreed in his British accent, and took my arm. Together we made overly exagerrated marching steps all the way out to his car. There, he saluted me before he plunked his large backpack into the car's trunk. I laughed as he marched around his car the long way to get to his driver's seat. When he got to me, he bowed and lightly brushed his lips over my hand, which I found extremely out-of-character for him. I couldn't help but laugh.  
Right before he got into his driver's seat, with the door wide open, he turned and asked,"Hey. When do I get to treat you to a mean Lean Cuisene?"  
I laughed,"Whenever you want to!" I grinned.  
"Alrighty then," he said and winked as he got in the car and shut the door.  
"See ya later!" I waved.  
"Later!" He waved back, and then drove off.  
  
~^*v~v*^~  
  
"So we ARE getting a Pirates show!" Holly "Ooo"d and "ahhh"d. "That's sooo cool, the music is just....awesome!" She gave me a look and I personally thought,"Don't tell me. Tell the doubters, if there are any."  
We were sitting in the main band room, waiting for Mr.Jamous to come and unlock his office, while various other workers were coming in by ones and twos. I was sitting cross-armed in my puny band chair while Holly sat on the floor, scribbling away at something.  
"What are you doing?" I leaned over to see, but she blocked my view with her shoulder.  
"Nope! You can't see yet!"  
"What? Why not?" I leaned over and tried to grab at it.  
"NooOOoOooo!" she said and ran away almost 10 feet.  
Ten minutes later, there was a sign on Mr.Jamous' office door saying,"Captain Barbossa's Quarters, Enter only on serious buisness." And there was another on the Guard's closet door saying,"Jack's House - Pirate's Only." And there was yet another on the Instrument Storage Room's door saying,"Ilem da weta Cave." Lastly, someone else had thought it funny to label the Percussion's Cabinet as "Tortuga."  
As I surveyed Holly's handiwork, I couldn't help but laugh.  
Jack came to the band room just as Holly was labeling our door,"The Caribbean - 1800's". He stopped and looked around all puzzled like before asking,"What's going on?"  
"Oh just some themeing..."Holly answered, then turned around and smiled mischieviously. "You'll see."  
"........I'm scared now." He laughed and walked in.  
After scanning the room and picking out every sign to laugh at it, we walked up to me. "Was this your idea?" he asked.  
"I had nothing to do with this." I smiled.  
"I'm surprised, I was sure that it was you who was so mischievious."  
"Me? Mischievious? Never....." I rolled me eyes,"I would never EVER label the Percussion Section 'Tortuga." I laughed quietly, naughtily as I turned away. I had done that one. After all, weren't percussionist supposed to be different? Then I stopped and thought aloud,"Soooo, if the Percussionists are Tortuga and the Guard is Jack's House, does that mean that the guard and the drummers.......? .....I'm confused! And you....since when did you live in the Guard Closet? I laughed.  
"Shhhhh, they're not supposed to know." Jack whispered very loudly.  
"Naughty!" I pushed at his shoulder and he laughed, his bright eyes shining as usual as he pushed back.  
"Oh, now you done it!" I pushed back playfully, so that he spun, then ducked as he came back, but he got me anyway and pushed me down on the floor. And there I sat, looking up at him with sad puppy dog eyes. Then, I sniffed and pushed out my lower lip and whined a little.  
"Aww no! Nooo! Anything but that!" Jack turned away, but peeked over his shoulder just to say, "Noooo," again.  
Eventually, he turned to me for real and said,"Alright, alright, I'll help you up." And offered me his hand for support. I gladly took it and pulled as he did, and our combined efforts brought my face much closer to is than normal. We paused, he was looking into my eyes, and I was into his. Then I sensed that I might blush, so I turned my head and stepped back.  
"Well, well, well, been working on more than music have we?" Mr.Jamous asked as he passed us going to his office. He was looking at our hands, which were still held together. We both snapped out of our trances right then and dropped them. Jack turned away and held his hands behind his back and pretended to look at the ceiling, though I noticed him looking at me thoughtfully every now and then.  
"Mr.Jamous!!" I scolded and aimed a playful kick at him and he jumped into his office and gave a sinister little smile as he closed the door.  
I gave the door a smug smile myself and then turned to Jack. But then abrubtly the door opened again and Mr.Jamous stuck his head out. "Hey, by the way, do you guys have anything to show me?"  
Jack started,"Oh! Yes! I...we do!" He swung out and grabbed his backpack, which was leaning against the wall and hurried into the office.  
"Oh, and also..."Mr.Jamous held up his hand to stop Jack,"What's with all the decor?" Mr.Jamous stared straight at his own sign and gave a hesitant laugh,"Am I really all that bad?"  
"Hehehe, not really, sir, but it's still funny."Jack as he placed his backpack on the table and got out our notes and few sheets of music.  
As Mr.Jamous went through them he mumbled and played out parts on his trumpet. Jack and I waited inside and looked around nervously. My mind, though concerned with the music, was more focused on Jack. He had looked at me differently when we were close. His eyes had been focused, and even now he looked as if he had more on his mind than just the music.  
Finally, Mr.Jamous spun his chair around to face us, an un-readable expression on his face.  
"It's good! I like it. There's depth and theme, and it moves well too...When can I get more of it?"  
Jack and I sighed in relief.  
"Well sir,"Jack spoke,"I can write a few notes on my own, but it should be this Thursday when Erica and I can meet up again to work on it."  
"Alright..."Mr.Jamous said. He had spun around to his desk again and was photo-copying our notes.  
"Yep yep, good stuff. Hey, do you guys have any ideas for a visual play/act/thing?" He asked us.  
"Well....even though it's not in our job descriptions, we do have a few ideas." I said.  
He looked to Jack, who pointed to me. "Her department."  
"Ok! Well, this is all well and good, but just please remember, we're on a deadline."Mr.Jamous said,"I'd like you guys to take the day off here, and get working on it."  
"Ok...I mean yes sir, Mr.Jamous." I said.  
I picked the corner under the percussion/tuba/equipment shelves to settle in and get to work. Sitting down with the new, clean sheets of music paper and my clarinet and trumpet, I sighed as I thought of the amazingly large amount of work we had to do in such a short time.  
As Jack sat down next to me and got out his things, I lifted up my head and found him looking at me. I gave him a little smile and went back to work, as he did the same. But what I did not notice was that he scooted just a little closer right then.  
  
~^*v~v*^~  
  
Thanks to absolutely everybody who reviewed! It really REALLY meant a lot to me that people liked m,y story and I sincerely hope that you guys enjoy this next installment. By the way, this week is the exam week/blasted-research-paper-turn-in-week, so the third chapter might be a little slower in the making, but no worries! We'll have it up here...sometime soon.  
  
To Amy0 - Thank you sooo much! I'm so glad you like it! Yes, there's going to be a lot of business for both the music production and the behind-the- scenes workers. ;) And thank-you for your compliments on my writing style.  
  
To Kitty the Drunken Butterfly - No Pirates music! Oh well, why don;t you just grab a guy and write some? ;) j/k. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! Sad to hear that you have a new director, bleh, it's hard when they're first settling in, eh? But maybe he/she will pull through. Favorites list! AHH! Thank-you, I feel so special. :)  
  
To RoyalClarinetGirl - Haha, you sound like me! :) I know, I love all of the music, it's awesome! And, you're a clarinet like me! 'Cept I might be turning Trumpet. :o  
  
To Leah - Thanks for your compliments on my dialogue. I'll try to keep the style as consistent as I can. ;)  
  
To k1489 - Thank-You :)  
  
-Falarios 


	3. Movement

~^*v~v*^~  
  
Jack picked me up in his car that Thursday as planned, and this time we headed over to his place. When I got out I was greeted by a quaint one- story house made of brick which looked to be at least 30 years old. It reminded me of my grandparent's house.  
Jack came up behind me and handed me my bag which he had retrieved from the trunk.  
"Oh thank-you." I said as I grabbed it and slung it over my shoulder.  
"It might not look like much,"Jack indicated the house,"But it's home."  
I smiled,"Well I think it's cute, and it looks old. It reminds me of my grandparent's house."  
He frowned,"I'm not so sure...is that a good thing?"  
"It's a good thing,"I nodded and took his arm,"An escort?"  
"Why certainly, love!" He imitated Jack Sparrow as he placed his hand on mine and pranced to the door.  
"Oh, hold on," He said and disengaged himself. He began searching his pockets, then, not finding what he was looking for, looked under the flower pots and door mat."Where, did I put that blasted key?" he asked.  
"Beats me,"I commented, and curiously peeked over to see what he was doing.I had heard a strange sucking sound, like that of shoes being pulled out of mud. My face contorted into a confused and appalled look as I saw what he had done. He had uprooted a plant so that it was dangling from his hand as he looked through what remained in the pot.  
"AHA!" He exclaimed as he produced a very very dirty key.  
I stood there for a moment as he fiddled with the door. "Don't you have a normal house key?"I inquired.  
"Lost it." He said absent-mindedly.  
"Oh...Well....why don't you just put the key in a...well...more NORMAL place?"I asked.  
"Dad's paranoid. Some guy came by and stole one of our keys before. Dad had all of the locks changed and new keys made. He just HAS to hide them in odd places. Trouble is...I forget where half of them are!"He shrugged and offered his muddy hand,"Thought you wanted an escort?"  
"I can manage now,"I pushed his hand down with one finger and walked through the door. Jack followed and I observed the house.  
It was so alike my grandparents, that it made me feel completely at home. It had somce classic looking furniture with used countertops in the kitchen and various plants around the house. The floor was a beautiful, worn wood and the wallpaper was roughly textured with lines that ran vertically towards the floor. An old standing piano stood in the dining room, and an old clarinet was on the mantlepiece.  
"Oh! So there is a woodwind in the household!" I exclaimed as we passed on the way to Jack's room.  
Jack shook his head sadly, and held his head in his hand as if he were ashamed. "The shame of the family..."  
"Hey!"I aimed a small kick at him, but he had scooted away int his room as soon as he had made his comment.  
His room was unlike the rest of the household. Modern, messy, and not decoreated except for a few posters of Drum Corps, it was a typical teenage boy's room, which included the large pile of dirty laundry in a corner.  
Jack dropped my luggage, which he had taken, and dropped it unceremoniously on the bed, turned around and out-stretched his arms.  
"Tadaaaaa!" He indicated his room."What do you think?"  
"That's the best part,"I said, pointing to a poster of The Cavaliers.  
"Well of course it is! The Cavies rock."  
"MmmHmmm, Blue Devils too, oh and The Cadets as well."I nodded.  
"Indeed, excellent trumpet soloists in this year's show."He closed his eyes and danced a little to the music in his head from the Cadets performance.  
I giggled a little,"Sooo, where's those famous Lean Cuisenes you've told me soo much about?"  
"Oh yes! Follow me, milady." He held up a finger and again imitating Mr.Sparrow, pranced to the kitchen. He pulled out a stool at the quaint little bar and ran around the counters, sending me into a fit of suppressed giggles. Abrubtly, he stopped and waving his fingers around like Sparrow, said,"But first! Some music! This house is too quiet without any, trust me love."  
He strutted across the hallway-like kitchen and fished out a CD player that I looked closely and noticed that it had been wired to a few very discreet speakers placed around high places in the kitchen. Jack selected a burned CD and gently placed it in the player. In a moment, the voice of Bryan Adams filled the small space, though the volume had been turned to a soft setting.  
"I didn't know you liked Bryan Adams..."I said. Not many people knew of him, though many knew of his songs and didn't know who wrote them.  
"Yep, though I don't listen to too much popular music." He stressed the word popular,"I just....don't think that most 'artists' these days have any real merit to their songs, or at least those that get super famous." He looked at me with a disappointed look on his face.  
"I couldn't aggree more,"I nodded,"People look at me weird when I say I listen to these people they've never heard of or Drum Corp's music. Anyway! We have music, now we need food!" I laughed.  
"Absolutely, love!" Mr.Sparrow strutted to the refrigerator and pulled out two frosted Lean Cuisenes. He showed them both off dramaticly, before sticking them harshly in the microwave. As if in a trance we watched the microwave plate go round and round with his nose pressed against the window, going "Oooo..." and "Ahhhh...".  
"Silly,"I said as I got up,"Where's the cups and glasses?" I asked as I headed over to a promising set of cabinets. As I reached for them, Jack said,"Opposite side."  
"Oh," I turned around and headed to the OTHER set of cabinets. I opened them to find plates and tupper-ware.  
"....Jack?" I turned around. Jack was at the very same cabinets i had been at, getting glasses.  
As he passed a very confused Erica, he said,"You're the guest. No work for you!" He laughed sinisterly.  
"No no no, you can't get away with that." I said as I grabbed two plates. But Jack had already placed the glasses down and snatched the plates out of my hands.  
"Seriously, I've got it covered."He said.  
"Fine!" I sat down and crossed my arms as he went around doing various things.  
  
We both sat at the bar to eat our Lean Cuisenes, and as we were munching away, I asked Jack,"So who does that Clarinet belong to anyway?"  
"That's my grandfather's. He lives here too, and that piano's his as well." Jack pointed with his fork.  
"Oh....that's cool. Does your Mom or Dad play?"  
"Dad's totally tone-deaf, so no. And Mum played the clarinet too before she died."He said matter-a-factly.  
"Oh, I'm sorry."  
"Oh, it's alright, she died when I was oh...8, 9?"  
"Hmmmm...doesn't that make you want to play the Clarinet at all?"I asked and nudged his ribs with my left elbow.  
"Well...to tell you the truth, I've tried."  
"Really?" I was surprised.  
"Yep...and I was totally terrible at it."  
"What!? JACK ACTUALLY BAD AT SOMETHING?!"I over-exaggerated everything, though I was genuinely surprised that he couldn't play Clarinet.  
"Nobody's pefwect." He stuck his nose up playfully."But yeah, I would try and I couldn't make a sound out of it, and then I'd try harder and it'd go SQUAWK! SQUEAKY SQUAWK SQUAWK SQUEEEAAAKKK!!!!"  
I laughed, which was a bad thing at the moment because I was in the middle of swallowing a gulp of coke. I barely managed to swallow before giggling at his lovely sound effects. But I actually had a suspicion about what might have been wrong.  
"May I take a look at it?" I asked.  
"Sure." He said,"Do what you want with it."  
I took it carefully off the mantle and examined it respectfully.  
"Is this the same reed you used?" I asked holding up the small piece of wood in it's container.  
Jack swallowed and nodded,"Yeah, that's the one."  
Comprehension dawned on my face."Ahhhh..."I said. He looked at me curiously.  
"What?" he asked.  
"See this little number right here?" Of course he couldn't see it from 10 feet away, but he nodded anyway. "This is a level 4 reed. What on earth were you doing playing on one of these?"  
"That was the one my Grandpa had so, he let me use it."  
"Well, what you needed to try a smaller number." I said and went to go dig in my backpack.  
I returned a minute later as Jack was cleaning up and stuck the only level 1 reed I owned in Jack's mouth. His face turned a little sour at the never-been-used taste. Then, I took it and fastened it on the mouthpiece. I took it to him and held it out. He took at looked at me, puzzled.  
"Ok, place your mouth on the mouthpiece a little less than halfway down it. Place it lightly, with you teeth touching the top and your lip covering the bottom."I instructed.  
He did as told, then looked at me, making sure that he was doing it right. I nodded, then placed his hands and fingers in the right position.  
"Now tounge on the reed and blow lightly."I smiled.  
A soft G resonated through the room.  
"Very good! Bravo bravo!" I clapped, giggling a little at his little- kid-like expression.  
I let him explore random notes for a while before finally calling him over to the table again.  
"You forget we actually have to work." I said.  
"Awwww," he moaned playfully and obediently put the clarinet up.  
  
We were taking a break from actual work and Jack put some different music on. It was a jazzy, dance-type piece and before Jack came to sit back down, he started dancing around avidly. He was actually really good at it too. He danced alone for a minutes while I giggled at his random antics, then offered me his hands. Of course, how could I refuse? He swung me around, this way and that and it wasn't even a minute before we were both laughing like lunatics. So much that we started to dance more like drunks than band people. then abruptly, he grabbed my waist and dipped me and held me there. His expression calmed almost imediately. And he looked deep into my eyes.  
"I knew when I took this job,"he said quietly,"That I would fall for you....It was inevitable." He smiled faintly to himself.  
I laughed a little faintly,"And I knew I would fall for you even more." I said quietly.  
He leaned forward a little more, hesitantly. Then, I moved closer to his face, his lips, his eyes...and kissed him.  
  
~^*v~v*^~  
  
Yay! They finally got to kiss! And I myself am happy because I got to hang out with the guy that Jack was inspired by! =D ^.^  
  
Oh and 'He's a Pirate' is actually in the show by the way. I had to download the songs off of KaZaA because I don't have the CD yet. Key word there is yet ;). Anyway, the song I downloaded was called 'Jack Sparrow'. It's the same music as 'He's a Pirate', it's just somebody added a clip of Jack at the beggining saying,"You forgot one very important thing, mate...I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." Then the music begins. So, I'l change the title right away. 


	4. Apparently big news

~^*v~v*^~  
  
"Yes, we're going out. Is this such a hard concept?" I asked, exasperated. We were walking down the abandoned halls of my school, opened up for the band and the janitor. Jacklyn and Michelle, my flute and fellow clarinet friends, were chatting with me as we went along. My fellow Sophomores were so full of questions as to how I managed such a catch, Jack being the Junior and in general person he was.  
"Well yeah, seeing as you two were just friends a little while ago."Jacklyn said. She was a pretty thing herself, soft-spoken to everybody except her friends, and smart. She really got into the whole help-Erica-and- Jack-get-together thing. In fact, she was the person that influenced me most to overcome my natural shyness and go talk to him at every chance I got.  
"I think it's really great. You've liked him for a long time haven't you?" Michelle asked. She was the more quiet, but out-going of the two. Where Jacklyn had pushed me to go talk to Jack, Michelle had supported and suggested things to me the whole time. Michelle was as tall as me, with a light build and fair features. Her eyes were bright and she went into all of the 'smart classes'.  
"Yeah, I did..."I said thoughtfully."One might think it too long actually."  
"But you got the guy, so who cares?"Jacklyn pointed out.  
"Oh, getting the guy is one milestone, no doubt..."I said.  
"But keeping the guy requires work too,"Michelle finished.  
"Too true, too true."I said, then pointed,"Hey why don't we settle here?"  
We were on a lunch break, so we were wandering around the school looking for a place to relax and talk away from all of the other convienently close listeners. We ended up choosing, where else, the tables is the cafeteria. It wasn't as if we weren't going to be seeing enough of those in the year to come, right?  
We talked there, mostly about Jack, but they also wanted to know how the show was coming along. Jack and I had actually finished the opener, which had required celebration, and we were both very excited. At least the opener would keep the band busy through band camp.  
The opener was entitled,"One Last Shot." The piece in the movie itself covered a variety of situations. However, in the music, we chose to begin it softly, then rise to the action packed/mischievious movement. As far as visuals, nothing was planned for the opener. We were, however, working on some kind of scene for our second number,"He's a Pirate". Which was about finished. We were still working on a part for the flutes...since neither of us knew much about how to transpose music for them, the flute parts always slowed us down.  
Jacklyn and Michelle were very excited to hear about all of our plans for the show, but then they abrubtly changed the subject to our plans for each other.  
"Oh. Well...I hadnt really thought about it." I stated.  
"I mean, you're going out, so are you gonna kiss sometime soon?" Jacklyn asked.  
"Hehehe, well, actually..."I left the sentence hanging.  
"...No Way!"Jacklyn exclaimed.  
"Oh my gosh,"Michelle laughed,"You kissed him already?!"  
I could just feel the blush creeping over my face. That burning sensation that you just know shows up on the skin's surface.  
"Yeah." I said wistfully.  
That seemed to fling them into a fit of giggles. I waited patiently for them to calm down, sipping my coke and closing my eyes.  
"Yeah, that was great."I said when they finally calmed down.  
"Hey, you have to tell us ALL about it."Jacklyn appealed."C'mon." Michelle nodded her head vigorously, pushing me to tell my tale.  
"Well, ok." I began off with my story about going to his house and the music and the dancing and, of course, the kiss. They both seemed enthralled with the story as if it were some great romantic oratory. I couldn't help but giggle every now and then at the dreamy looks they were giving me. I could only think that they were hoping for the same with the guys that they liked.  
At the end, they kind of sat in silence, until Jacklyn abrubtly cleared her throat and looked up above my head. "Lookie who it is!"  
I turned with a slight suspicion of who it might be, and sure enough, it was Jack.  
"Hello ladies." He said casually and sat down next to me.  
"Hey Jack,"Michelle said politely, which was imediately echoed by Jacklyn.  
"Hello sir." I said cheerfully, turning to him.  
"I came a lookin' for you, Erica. Seems everybody wants to know what's up and they were determined to get it out of me. Right before I left, a couple of piccolos sat me down and started to tune themselves......trying to get OUT of tune of course." He grimaced.  
I laughed, "So what'd you do?"  
"Well, what any sane man would do, I ran!"  
While we were all thoroughly amused, Jacklyn and Michelle actually had more questions for Jack about the show. Which, personally, I think he was relieved they didn't want 'news'.  
"Soooo, is our drill gonna be hard? Is the music hard?" Jacklyn inquired.  
"Well, we don't do the drill, and I don't know what you would consider.....hard." Jack smiled earnestly. "The drill that we got back from Dr.Orion looks good though." He shrugged.  
"Knowing you, 'Mr.March-till-you-drop' I'd say that means hours in the sun." Jacklyn rolled her eyes.  
"Ha, you know no matter how easy the drill is, you'd still be spending hours in the sun," I commented.  
Michelle looked to Jacklyn,"It's true!"  
Jacklyn looked off, disapointed.  
My amusement soon faded. As we went along eating, an irritating silence fell over. I realized that Jacklyn and Michelle weren't comfortable with Jack. It's not like they'd been around him much before.  
"Oh well," I thought to myself, "They'll get used to him in time. It's not like they have anything against him."  
"C'mon, let's head back to the band room. I miss the obnoxious noise." I stood up and gathered my things.  
"Noise?" Jack looked perplexed,"...I always thought that was called Music."  
I smirked and gave him a playful kick to get moving.  
"Alright! I'm comin'."  
"Us too,"Michelle chimed.  
~^*v~v*^~  
  
As I had predicted, half of the band geeks were eating and talking. A fourth were running around doing who-knows-what and causing mischief. And the last fourth playing their new music....the music Jack and I had composed. Unfortunately, all save one were butchering it. Our 1st trumpet was practicing his duet, and actually doing an impressive job on it.  
As we walked in, I had to refrain from covering my ears, though I did wince a little.  
Jack was right, there were a lot of inquisitive to the opint of being obnoxious questioners. Eventually, I pardoned myself from all of them, grabbed Jack and waltzed staright into Mr.Jamous' office.  
As the door closed, I relaxed. It was SO much more quiet in here. Mr.Jamous was busy slapping his monitor trying to get his computer to work.  
  
"Well, I see everyones relaxed today." I commented. Not that everyone was a lot. Just everybody mooching off of the 'We finished the band's library!' party. Most had just come once and sat around, staring at the hard workers and making jokes.  
Mr.Jamous gave me a glare. "This blasted contraption won't work."  
"What are you trying to do,"Jack asked.  
"I am trying to get it to print out copies of the new drill." He said tensely.  
"May I see?" I asked.  
He nodded and I checked the little 'Alert' window on the screen. Peeking back behind his desk, I restrained a giggle and pulled out the printer's cord...which was not connected to the printer.  
Mr.Jamous saw it and snatched it out of my hand. "Lemme do this."  
When he finally got it working, I took a look at the drill. I hadn't had a chance to yet.  
"OH MY GOSH, did you guys not look at this?! I mean it's gotta be a typo!"  
Both the guys looked at me quizically. "Uhhhh...no?" Mr.Jamous answered.  
"Guys, our little feets can't move at 145 beats per minute. Especially, not with these distances."  
"That shouldn't be a problem,"Jack commented.  
I gave Jack a look,"Okay, we're not a Drum Corps. How are you going to get THOSE people - "I pointed out Mr.Jamous' window at the band geeks," -to march it?"  
They both frowned.  
Silence ensued...  
"Well?" I asked  
"Guess we have a problem." Mr.Jamous concluded.  
I agreed,"Guess so."  
  
~^*v~v*^~  
  
Alrighty, Chap 4 is up. Now, I'm not quite sure where we're going from here. Ideas anyone? E-mail me or leave a review! 


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